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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Victoria Danann

Review and Guest Post by Victoria Danann

Victoria Danann's
Self-Interview?

Hey.
If Rembrandt and Van Gogh can go self-portraits, I can do a
self-interview. I know what you're thinking. "Yeah. Well. You're
not Van Gogh." You're right, of course. But doing three blogs
around the release of three books in the space of ten months has
created the answers to a whole lot interview questions.

On
occasion I interview other authors. I always ask if there was a
question they always wanted to be asked and had never had been and,
if so, what was it? That was part one of what led me here. The second
part is character interviews. When I do character interviews - let's
face it - I'm interviewing my own imagination.

Soooooo,
why not just ask myself the question I'd like to answer. The
following is a sampling of some of my favorite all-time blog tour
questions followed by one of the one questions I've never been asked,
but would like to answer. (There are a lot.)

PART
ONE: THE BOOKS

1. Who
is your favorite character in Black Swan and why?Ram.
One person recently told me that, if action figures of my characters
ever come out, she wants to place a preorder for Ram. I have to agree
with her. Because this saga has a lot of balls in the air (pun not
intended, I swear). Ram is on the zigzag path of a hero's journey in
a classical sense. Add to that the fact that he's drop dead sex and a
one-woman elf and, really, what more could you want?2. Many people feel the PNR genre is on the way out. Do you agree? Are
there any changes you'd make to stay on the cutting edge of this
genre? Will you change genres?

I
think that will be true if more authors don't stop the
vamp-by-number, more-weres-the-better rehash and tryfor
something different.

Before
I started writing I spent two full years reading every PNR that had
enjoyed any success to find out what had already been done, then set
out to create something new. I get a lot of feedback that starts by
saying, "I don't really know what genre to put this in..."
I love comments like, "She explodes stereotypes."

Also, I'm writing true Paranormal Romance. It's not paranormal suspense or paranormal mystery or paranormal thriller with a love interest back story. The romance is the main plot for me. And romance is never going to be on the way out.3. As
writers, we are bombarded with ideas every minute of every day.
What’s the idea behind this series and how did it come about?I
read Stranger
in a Strange Land
by Robert Heinlein when I was about twelve-years-old and have always
been fascinated by the concept of other worlds that are similar, but
not identical. I combined that with my formal academic education in
Paranormal Psychology, the fact that I always got along super well
with boys, and voila.

PART
TWO: WRITING

1. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

My working theory is that, if you watch children carefully, they will show you who they really are by the time they are eight or nine. At that age I had two stacks of legal pads on my bed. One I used to sketch glamorous evening wear. The other I used to write my own Bobbsey Twins novels. I did spend a few years as a designer of glam dresses and was copied by the biggest names in the business. I had a big following in the Northeast, South America, and Europe and still see some of my dresses show up in the movies. So I checked that off the list and did it until I was done. Now I'm writing.

2. Have you ever made big changes in your story because someone – your crit partner, a friend, or beta reader – really didn't like it? Are you glad you did (or didn't)? The answer is yes, but the someone was one of the characters. My Familiar Stranger started out to be a different story. My heroine was supposed to end up with the character of my choice. I was about 80% finished when another one of the guys (characters) started insisting that he was the one who should get the girl! I let him make his case and finally had to agree, but it caused a lot of overhaul.

Since then I have done a poll on Facebook asking fans who they wanted to end up with the girl and the big majority agreed with my character. It was him all along.

3.
What unique factor do you think you bring to the book/story market?

For
one thing, I waited to start writing until I was old enough to really
have something to say.

4.
What was the hardest part of writing your book?

The
hardest part of writing is slogging through the emotion. I know that,
if I'm crying so hard I can hardly see the PC screen, I've gotten it
right, but it's also very emotionally draining and it ruins my looks
for half a day. Conversely, if I'm lying in bed at night reading my
own book and laugh out loud, I know I got that right as well.

PART
THREE: PERSONAL

1.What is the most inspiring quote you have ever heard?

This actually relates to how busy I am. It's a motto used as my email signature on personal mail. THE QUOTE: "It's better to burn out, than fade away." - Rock of Ages, Def Leppard. Some people have wrongly attributed this to Kurt Cobain. Sorry. No. Others have said it wasn't Def Leppard, it was Neil Young, "It's better to burn out, than to fade away," - My, My, Hey, Hey. Also wrong. Neil Young used an extra "to". Big difference you see.

2. What's your favorite book?

Memnoch the Devil, Anne Rice. Also high up on the list: The Gate to Women's Country by Sherri S Tepper and Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

COMING
UP...

At
the same time The
Summoner's Tale
releases February 14th, a collected works edition of the first three
books also releases. The story will finally be told as it was meant
to be, as a saga without interruption.

The
Order of the Black Swan, Book 4: Moonlight
will release June 13th.

Coming Valentines' Day 2013

The Summoner's Tale

Victoria DanannThe Order of the Black Swan Book Three
ISBN: 978-1-933320-67-0
E-Book
ISBN: 978-1-933320-80-9 Paperback

Book Description:

A secret society, a witch, a psychic, vampires, modern day knights, heroes, elves, fae, assassins from another dimension, and fairytales come together where emotions intersect. Two souls, joined by a mystical bond, separated by distance, must simultaneously struggle through pain and darkness in an ultimate confrontation with character and an ultimate struggle for life proving that true love waits patiently through lifetimes and finds courage to survive. Even in the strangest places. Even when you're least expecting it. Even when you're far, far from home.

Erotic quotient: Some steamy scenes. No menage. No BDSM.READING THE SERIES IN ORDER HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

The Witch’s Dream By Victoria DanannThe Order of the Black Swan Book Two

From New York to Ireland to Edinburgh to Siena to the Texas Hill Country to Napa Valley, a secret society, a witch, a demon, a psychic, a berserker, an ex-vampire, modern day knights, heroes, werewolves, elves and fae come together where emotions intersect. The story maps a trail from rages to hunts to epiphanies, but, in the end, proves that true love can find you in the strangest places, when you're least expecting it, even when you're far, far from home.

He was left behind when Elora Laiken made her choice. Now he’s had it with love, but a transplanted witch who happens to be the world’s best tracker hopes she can change his mind.

The Witch’s Dream begins with B Team on temporary assignment to Black Swan headquarters in Edinburgh where they are supposed to fill in for stretched-thin resources and assist with a werewolf issue. They’ve been given permission to stop in Ireland for a few days and help celebrate a handfasting at the palace in Derry.

When they reach Edinburgh, the afterglow of an elftale wedding quickly turns all business. A missing person report turns into a demon abduction. A simple werewolf sanction becomes a diplomatic issue requiring the one thing Elora is no longer willing to give - finesse.

Erotic quotient: A few steamy scenes. No menage. No BDSM.

My Familiar Stranger
By Victoria DanannThe Order of the Black Swan Book One

Publisher: 7th House
ISBN: 978-1-933320-49-6 E-Book
ISBN: 978-1-933320-77-9 paperback
ASIN: B007V8RAKW
Number of pages: 360Book Description: Thirteen times on Amazon Best Seller List in Fantasy Romance. A secret society, modern day knights, and vampires come together for a once in a lifetime adventure and a once in a lifetime opportunity proving that true love can find you in the strangest places, even far, far from home.
Minutes ahead of inevitable assassination, Elora Laiken is forcibly transported to an alternate dimension similar, but not identical, to her own.

Of course a girl could suffer worse problems than having gorgeous suitors. Perhaps more importantly, in the midst of an epidemic of vampire related abductions, can she stay alive long enough to choose between an honor debt, true love, or the breathlessness of single-minded passion?

My Familiar Stranger is a full length, stand alone, Paranormal Romance novel that also sets up the foundation for the Black Swan series. It is loved by fans of paranormal romance, fantasy romance, and urban fantasy.

For the past fourteen years, Victoria has illustrated and authored Seasons of the Witch calendars and planners for 7th-House.com.Though works of fiction are a departure for me, I have had this series simmering on the back burner of her mind for years. In addition to authoring and illustrating Seasons of the Witch, I play rock music and manage one of Houston's premier R&B/Variety/Pop bands.

This series will include some of my actual experience in the paranormal with fictionalized anecdotes from my journals during the years when I was a practicing "metaphysician", but most of the material is fantasy.

Wow, what a series. Well, first of all and most important to know, these books must be read in order because they are interconnected. You will not be disappointed by reading them this way because the stories will make sense.

In book one, My Familiar Stranger, we meet Elora and the modern day Knights of The Order of the Black Swan. We also learn what the Order is and why they are in existence. We get to meet B-Team from the Hunters Unit of the Order, they are a group of the best of the best Knights. We learn where Elora comes from and the circumstances of her arrival into the Orders dimension and meet Baka, an infamous vampire, plus many more interesting characters.

Book two, The Witch's Dream, we continue where My Familiar Stranger left off with a “Handfasting” aka a wedding. We get to know more about Storm, Kay, Elora, and Baka. And we meet Litha – a witch, Song – a psychic and Ram's sister, Katrina – simply human - with her crazy sisters, Heaven – a demonologist, and we meet a sexy and very hot incubus.

Book Three, The Summoner's Tale continues the story of the Knights and their families and co-workers. People from Elora's dimension are coming for her. The vampires are after Baka, Heaven gets in touch with her feelings, Song shows her skills, and Glen gives us a sneak peak of his skills.

Ms. Danann has created a world of dimensions that includes all types of supernaturals. I love her characters because they are fully developed and have personalities that are believable and lovable.

Since the series is a serial series she has more time to devote to the world of dimensions and each character. I love the stories and the many plots side by side within each book. I have read many series where I wanted to know more about someone or to find out what happened to the characters after an event was over but when the book ended and the next book began there was never anything to answer my questions, until now. That is what makes this series so awesome – each character has his or her own story and the reader is on the sideline “watching” their story unfold. I love this series, the characters, and the world created by Ms Danann. I highly recommend reading this series – each book is a Best Book Ever!